Editing Albia, Iowa (section)

==History==
[[File:AlbiaMines.png|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Map of the Albia area from 1908, showing the railroads, mining camps and coal mines (shown in red).]]
Albia was incorporated as a town in 1856.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi00hickgoog | title=An Illustrated History of Monroe County, Iowa  | publisher=F. Hickenlopper | author=Hickenlooper, Frank | year=1896 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi00hickgoog/page/n300 296]}}</ref> The town was named after Albia, [[New York (state)|New York]], the former home of an early settler.<ref>{{cite book|last=Savage|first=Tom|title=A Dictionary of Iowa Place-Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxagLIZHNv4C&pg=PP21|date=August 2007|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-1-58729-759-5|page=21|quote=...in honor of his prior home in New York.}}</ref>
[[File:FI0013123.jpg|alt=Main Street, Albia, IA, 1890|left|thumb|499x499px|Main Street, 1890]]
On Feb. 14, 1893, there was a coal mine explosion in the Chicago and Iowa mine, about 2.5 miles west of Albia. This [[room and pillar]] mine had opened around 1877. By the time of the explosion, mining extended more than 1,000 yards from the [[shaft mining|hoisting shaft]], and the mine employed 60 miners and 20 other men. One miner was killed outright and seven died later of their injuries, after a "shot" (gunpowder charge used to bring down the coal) ignited a [[dust explosion]] in the mine. This was one of only two major mine disasters in Iowa between 1888 and 1913.<ref>Albert H. Fay, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R38fAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA190 Coal-Mine Fatalities in the United States 1870–1914], Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Washington DC, 1916, page 190.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PRAAAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA29 Sixth Biennial Report of the State Mine Inspectors to the Governor of the State of Iowa for the Two Years Ending June 30, 1893], Ragsdale, Des Moines, 1893, pages 29–35.</ref>[[File:North side of Square, Albia, Iowa (12659450703).jpg|thumb|right|Historical North Side of Square]]

In the early 20th century, the region around Albia was dotted with coal mining camps and [[company town]]s. Of these, [[Buxton Historic Townsite|Buxton]], 9 miles north of Albia, is the most widely studied. It had a large Black population.<ref>David M. Gradwohl and Nancy M. Osborn, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xq22r3wSPy0C&pg=PP1 Exploring Buried Buxton – Archaeology of an Abandoned Iowa Coal Mining Town with a Large Black Population], University of Iowa Press, 1990.</ref> Other former coal camps in the area include Hiteman, Bluff Creek, Lockman, Coalfield, Hocking, and Hynes.[[File:FI0013224.jpg|alt=Main Street, Albia, Iowa|left|thumb|A parade outside Town Square, 1959]]The growth in membership in the [[United Mine Workers]] union, as shown by the following data, is a useful measure of the importance of mining in the region. In 1902, UMW Locals 692 and 793 in Albia had an aggregate membership of 216. By 1912, UMW Locals 407, 782 and 793 in Albia had an aggregate membership of 338 (about 7.2% of the 1910 population).  Miners in Hiteman, 5 miles northwest of town, joined the UMWA in 1898; between 1902 and 1912, membership grew from 450 to 688. Miners in Hynes, 7 miles east, joined the [[UMWA]] in 1896; between 1902 and 1912, membership grew from 330 to 543.<ref>Trade Unions in Iowa – Table No. 1, Mine Workers of America, United, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5dooAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA232 Tenth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the State of Iowa, 1901–1902], Murphy, Des Moines, 1903; page 232.</ref><ref>Tally Sheet, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cfAUAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA1005 Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Convention of the United Mine Workers of America] Jan. 16 – Feb. 2, 1912, Indianapolis; Volume 2, pages 180A-185A.</ref>